Commercial Contracts

  • January 21, 2026

    Pa. Justices Reverse Clickwrap Arbitration Limits, For Now

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has determined that a lower appellate court was too quick to declare that "clickwrap" arbitration agreements buried in apps' and websites' terms of service erode the constitutional right to trial by jury, reversing a decision that invalidated such an agreement in an injury suit against Uber.

  • January 21, 2026

    Licensing Deal Saves Cisco From Lionra Suit, Fed. Circ. Says

    The Federal Circuit rebuffed Lionra Technologies Ltd.'s efforts to save its patent infringement case against Cisco Systems Inc., with a panel finding Wednesday that a licensing agreement foreclosed the lawsuit and calling Lionra's characterization of the agreement "skewed."

  • January 21, 2026

    NC Court Throws Duke A Lifeline In Transfer Battle With QB

    A North Carolina state judge allowed Duke University quarterback Darian Mensah to enter the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday, but prohibited him from signing with another school until ruling on Duke's request for an injunction that would keep him at the university.

  • January 21, 2026

    Businesses Seek OK On $436M Toyota Forklift Emissions Deal

    A proposed class of businesses is asking a California federal court to give the go-ahead on a $436 million settlement with Toyota Industries Corp. and its material handling affiliates in a suit that alleged the company misled them on their forklift and construction engine emissions.

  • January 21, 2026

    Tex-Mex Chain's 'Feeling' Isn't Trade Secret, NC Biz Court Told

    A chain of upscale Tex-Mex restaurants in North Carolina failed to specify the trade secrets a former manager is accused of stealing to replicate its dining concept at another restaurant in Missouri, defense counsel told a North Carolina Business Court judge on Wednesday.

  • January 21, 2026

    Cresco Accused Of Withholding Revenue Share From Partner

    An Ohio company that claims it helped cannabis giant Cresco Labs LLC build its medical and retail marijuana operations in the Buckeye State alleges in a new federal lawsuit that the company bilked it out of promised fees when it expanded its business into adult-use cannabis.

  • January 21, 2026

    Widow Of 'Sophie's Choice' Author Settles Stage Rights Spat

    The 97-year-old widow of author William Styron has settled a suit by a playwright who claimed he held exclusive rights to the stage version of Styron's novel "Sophie's Choice," according to a filing in Massachusetts state court.

  • January 21, 2026

    Realtor Alleges Zillow 'Monopoly' Forces Loan Referrals

    A proposed class of real estate agents accused property listing company Zillow Group Inc. and several of its subsidiaries in Washington federal court of running a monopoly that forces real estate agents to, among other things, use a Zillow client referral program that pushes program participants to refer clients to Zillow's loan services.

  • January 21, 2026

    Chancery Gives Solar Roof Co. One Week To Find In-State Atty

    The Delaware Chancery Court on Wednesday declined to rule immediately on a request to hold a solar roofing company in contempt for defying a court order, instead pausing the case to give the company time to hire Delaware counsel, a prerequisite to allowing the company to be heard on the merits.

  • January 20, 2026

    Adviser Can't Freeze Funds From $2.1B Plymouth REIT Buy

    A Massachusetts state judge declined Tuesday to set aside $60 million from a pending $2.1 billion deal to take Plymouth Industrial REIT private, finding the criteria to escrow the funds as a "debt" to Plymouth's financial adviser were not met.

  • January 20, 2026

    Martin Shkreli Can't Force Wu-Tang's RZA Into Album Fight

    A New York federal judge has shot down Martin Shkreli's request to add Wu-Tang Clan rappers and producers RZA and Cilvaringz to litigation centered on the group's rare album "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin," slamming Shkreli's motion as "astonishingly devoid of support."

  • January 20, 2026

    John Roberts Welcomes John Roberts To Supreme Court

    U.S. Supreme Court advocates have tips galore for staying calm at a debut argument, including diligent preparation, mindful breathing and treating the event as a conversation. But a Proskauer Rose LLP attorney benefited Tuesday from a distinctive development: the chief justice's introductory jest about the two of them not being related.

  • January 20, 2026

    American Bridge Owes $57M In Seattle Convention Center Suit

    American Bridge Co. has been hit with a $57 million judgment in Washington state court after a judge last month found the steel subcontractor on the hook for delays to a Seattle convention center project in a legal battle with a Clark Construction joint venture that served as the general contractor. 

  • January 20, 2026

    Judge Mostly Rejects Discovery Requests In OpenAI MDL

    A Manhattan federal magistrate judge largely rejected a series of requests from a group of authors and news publishers to expand discovery in a copyright infringement case against OpenAI, but directed the parties to confer on some topics to discuss production of certain materials.

  • January 20, 2026

    Law360 Names Firms Of The Year

    Eight law firms have earned spots as Law360's Firms of the Year, with 48 Practice Group of the Year awards among them, achieving milestones such as high-profile litigation wins at the U.S. Supreme Court and 11-figure merger deals.

  • January 20, 2026

    Duke Sues To Block Quarterback's Transfer, Citing NIL Deal

    Duke University is suing to stop quarterback Darian Mensah from entering the NCAA transfer portal, saying the sophomore from California is defying his name, image and likeness deal with the Blue Devils, which runs through the end of 2026.

  • January 20, 2026

    Microsoft Warns Google Play Store Deal Invites Antitrust Harm

    Microsoft Corp. urged a California federal judge to reject the proposed Android app distribution settlement in Epic Games' antitrust suit against Google, arguing that the deal would essentially erase the court's injunction requiring Google to open up its Play Store to Microsoft and other competitors.

  • January 20, 2026

    Texas AG Says State Diversity Initiatives Breach Constitution

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton took aim at a plethora of state diversity initiatives in a Monday opinion, declaring that several minority-owned business assistance programs and private hiring practices run afoul of the Texas Constitution.

  • January 20, 2026

    Comulate Alleges Anticompetitive Tactics By Applied Systems

    A maker of software for insurance brokers has further escalated its dispute with rival Applied Systems Inc., lodging a new lawsuit in Illinois federal court over an alleged campaign to eliminate a competitor it was unable to acquire.

  • January 20, 2026

    Zillow, Redfin Must Produce CEO Docs In FTC's Antitrust Case

    A Virginia federal magistrate judge gave the Federal Trade Commission a limited peek Tuesday into the communications between the CEOs of Zillow and Redfin over an alleged deal paying Redfin more than $100 million not to compete for rental listings, partially overriding Zillow's objections in a ruling from the bench.

  • January 20, 2026

    Ex-Med Spa Workers Say Poaching Claims Can't Stay In Conn.

    Two former Connecticut medical spa workers have asked a judge to dismiss claims they lured clients and a colleague to a nearby competitor, saying their employment agreements select Delaware as the necessary forum and venue for any dispute.

  • January 20, 2026

    Sandisk Inks Deal To License Memory Patents

    Computer technology company Sandisk has been granted a license to a portfolio of patents owned by a flash memory technology company, a move that came just after the parties agreed to end a patent dispute in California federal court.

  • January 20, 2026

    Broker-Dealer, Mutual Firm Fight Trimmed By Judge

    A Washington federal judge has dismissed claims by financial services company Leader Capital Corp., accusing a broker-dealer and a marketing services company of making misleading representations to investors about Leader Capital's compliance with securities laws, but allowed a counterclaim by the broker-dealer to proceed.

  • January 20, 2026

    North Carolina AG Wins Bid To End MV Realty's 40-Year Deals

    Florida real estate company MV Realty defied state consumer protection statutes in North Carolina by tricking homeowners into signing decades-long listing agreements in exchange for small cash advances, a state Business Court judge said in handing the attorney general a major pretrial victory.

  • January 20, 2026

    2nd Circ. Says US Not Venue For Kazakhstani Gov't Dispute

    A Second Circuit panel refused to revive a Kazakhstani businessman's suit against his business partners and the country's National Security Committee over an alleged scheme that made him take the fall for misappropriated funds used for bribes, determining the suit didn't belong in the U.S.

Expert Analysis

  • Notable Q3 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    The third quarter of 2025 was another eventful quarter for total loss valuation class actions, with a new circuit split developing courtesy of the Sixth Circuit, while insurers continued to see negative results in cost-of-insurance class actions, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

  • Series

    Mindfulness Meditation Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Mindful meditation enables me to drop the ego, and in helping me to keep sight of what’s important, permits me to learn from the other side and become a reliable counselor, says Roy Wyman at Bass Berry.

  • How Calif. High Court Is Rethinking Forum Selection Clauses

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    Two recent cases before the California Supreme Court show that the state is shifting toward greater enforcement of freely negotiated forum selection clauses between sophisticated parties, so litigators need to revisit old assumptions about the breadth of California's public policy exception, says Josh Patashnik at Perkins Coie.

  • AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy

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    Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

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    In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.

  • Calif. Justices Continued Anti-Arbitration Trend This Term

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    In the 2024-2025 term, the California Supreme Court justices continued to narrow arbitration's reach under state law, despite state courts' extreme caseload backlog and even as they embraced contractual autonomy in other contexts, says Josephine Petrick at The Norton Law Firm.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

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    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

  • TikTok Divestiture Deal Revolves Around IP Considerations

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    The divestiture deal between the U.S. and China to resolve a security dispute over TikTok's U.S. operations is seen as a diplomatic breakthrough, but its success hinges on the treatment of intellectual property and may set a precedent in the global contest over digital sovereignty and IP control, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • Opinion

    Courts Must Continue Protecting Plaintiffs In Mass Arbitration

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    In recent years, many companies have imposed onerous protocols that function to frustrate plaintiffs' ability to seek justice through mass arbitration, but a series of welcome court decisions in recent months indicate that the pendulum might be swinging back toward plaintiffs, say Raphael Janove and Sasha Jones at Janove Law.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • 7 Areas To Watch As FTC Ends Push For A Noncompete Ban

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    ​​​​​​As the government ends its push for a nationwide noncompete ban, ​employers who do not want to be caught without protections for legitimate business interests should explore supplementing their noncompetes by deploying elements of seven practical, enforceable tools, including nondisclosure agreements and garden leave strategies, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

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